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I have a 2003 Specialized Allez Elite road bike that I'm planning on upgrading the brakes. The bike came with a no-name set of brakes and I would like to upgrade to Shimano 105 BR5600 brakes. I understand that these calipers do not work with the 5700 series shifters (according to Nashbar.com), but how about with the 105 brifters that came standard on my 2003 road bike? I thought that brakes were pretty much interchangeable, but perhaps I'm wrong. Here's a link to the brakes I would like to upgrade to: http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...2_194932_-1___

Thanks if you can share any experience you have with the compatibility of this upgrade before I order a new set of brakes. Jim

It would be interesting to know why Shimano changed the cable pull of their newest STI's and the required pull of the new brake calipers.

Other than obsoleting their old brakes and forcing you to buy new ones when you go to the current levers, what problem were they solving?

This whole thing is news to me. I agree, I don't know what Shimano is thinking. Seems to me they're kind of shooting themselves in the foot in the biggest market, which is the OEM market. Interestingly, we have several new bikes in our shop with ST-5700 and ST-6700 shifter/brake levers, none of them have Shimano brake calipers, they're Tektro or Tektro derivatives. Weird. I've ridden the bikes and don't notice anything unusual with the braking. Maybe it really doesn't make any difference, I don't know.

I don't know what Shimano is thinking. Seems to me they're kind of shooting themselves in the foot in the biggest market, which is the OEM market.

Think that would have thought about this, and and want this to be the case, Shimano want's to sell more brakes, and by having a change to the pull ratio, have given them a year of domination before the OEM lot get compatiable brakes onto the market.

If I got a bike with Tektro brakes, the first thing would be to get Shimano's, as they work a lot better regardless of the groupset (and have done).

Think that would have thought about this, and and want this to be the case, Shimano want's to sell more brakes, and by having a change to the pull ratio, have given them a year of domination before the OEM lot get compatiable brakes onto the market.

In theory that may be true, but Shimano's biggest customer base is bicycle manufacturers, not individuals. One place bicycle manufacturers, more often than not, substitute non-group parts (i.e. Tektro) is the brake calipers. If I'm a bike manufacturer, and Shimano is saying these new levers should really only be used with the matching brakes, ít's gonna be a turn-off, and maybe make me look elsewhere for OEM parts. Or not. I dunno, I just rode a ST-5700 equipped bike with Tektro brakes, and honestly, the brakes feel great.

Sorry, but Travel Agents would be a silly solution for this even if it did adjust the cable pull the right amount. I would have to laugh if I saw a road bike set up with, say, ST-5600 shifter/brake levers, BR-5700 brakes, and Travel Agents. What a cluster that would be. Travel Agents are fine for bikes with conventional road levers and linear pull brakes.